How to judge fit, fabric and construction

A garment that fits well, is cut from good cloth and is made with care will look better on day one and keep looking good for years. With a few habits, you can assess quality in a couple of minutes, in a fitting room or on a product page. Here's what to look at.

1. Read the label

In the United States, most clothing must carry a label listing fiber content, country of origin and the manufacturer or seller, and care instructions are required too. That small tag is the most reliable fact you have about a garment.

• Fiber content. Wool, cotton, linen and silk each behave differently from polyester, nylon, acrylic and viscose (also called rayon). Neither group is simply good or bad. Wool breathes and resists creasing, linen is cool but wrinkles readily, and viscose drapes beautifully but can be delicate when wet. Blends can be excellent. A little elastane adds comfort and recovery to trousers and shirting. Ask whether the blend suits how you'll wear the piece.
• Care instructions. “Dry clean only” or “hand wash cold” are commitments. Choose pieces whose care fits your routine, and they'll stay in rotation instead of waiting in a pile.

2. Use your hands

Fabric quality is often easier to feel than to see. Four quick tests:

• Scrunch. Squeeze a corner of the fabric in your fist for a few seconds, then release. Deep, lasting creases mean the garment will look rumpled soon after you put it on.
• Stretch. Gently pull knits and stretch fabrics, then let go. They should recover quickly. Fabric that stays slack will bag at the knees, elbows and seat.
• Light. Hold a single layer up to the light. A dense, even weave or knit generally holds its shape and resists snagging better than a sheer, loose one, unless sheerness is the point.
• Surface. Look closely at knits under the arms and along the sides. Fuzz or tiny balls on a new garment suggest it will pill noticeably with wear.

3. Look at how it's made

• Seams. Turn the garment inside out. Stitches should be small, even and straight, without loose threads. Raw edges should be finished neatly so they won't fray in the wash. Pull very gently on either side of a seam: it shouldn't gape.
• Pattern matching. On stripes, checks and plaids, see whether the pattern lines up across seams, pockets and the front opening. Matching takes extra cloth and time, so it's a clear sign of care.
• Buttons and buttonholes. Buttons should be sewn on firmly, ideally with a spare. Buttonholes should be densely stitched and cleanly cut, with no fraying.
• Zips and hems. Zips should run smoothly and lie flat. Hems should be even all the way round and, on trousers and skirts, leave a little fabric folded inside, which makes future alterations possible.
• Linings and structure. Linings should lie flat and move with the outer fabric rather than pulling against it. In tailored jackets, the front is shaped by an inner layer called interfacing. It may be fused (bonded to the cloth) or sewn in as a floating canvas. Both can be done well. Press the chest gently and check that the front feels smooth, with no stiffness or bubbling.

4. Judge the fit in motion

Try pieces on with the kind of shoes you'll wear them with. Then move. Sit down, raise your arms, reach forward and turn. Clothes need to work when you live in them, not only when you stand still in front of a mirror.

• Jackets and coats: the shoulder seam should sit near the edge of your shoulder bone, the collar should rest against your neck without a gap, and the front should close without pulling into an X.
• Shirts and tops: no gaping between buttons, and sleeves that end around the wrist bone.
• Trousers and skirts: a waist that stays put without a belt doing all the work, a seat with no pulling or excess fabric, and a hem that suits the shoes you'll wear.

5. Know what a tailor can refine

Very few pieces fit perfectly off the rack, and a good tailor can turn a near-fit into something that looks made for you. It helps to know which adjustments are routine.

• Usually straightforward: hemming trousers and skirts, taking in a waist, shortening sleeves on many shirts and jackets, tapering a trouser leg.
• Difficult or impractical: resizing shoulders, adding room through the chest of a fitted jacket, and lengthening a garment with little or no fabric left in the hem.

That's why fit in the shoulders comes first for tailoring. Get the shoulders right and most other details can be refined.

Shopping online

The same principles apply. Check fiber content and care details in the description, compare the size chart with a garment you own that fits well, and look for close-ups of the fabric and seams.

The short version

Read the label, feel the cloth, turn it inside out, move in it, and know what a tailor can do. Pieces that pass all five tend to become the ones you reach for most.

When YourEdit suggests a piece, it aims to surface fabric and care details up front, so you can make these judgements before you buy.